Emilio Ortega

Assessment of Cross-Border Spillover Effects of National Transport Infrastructure Plans: An Accessibility Approach

Abstract Traditional transport infrastructure assessment methodologies rarely include the full range of strategic benefits for the transportation system. One of these benefits is the contribution to cross‐border integration, critical for the European integration process. However, this is a key issue in strategic planning and decision‐making processes, as its inclusion may increase the probability of large‐scale transport infrastructure projects being funded. This paper presents a methodology for the measurement of the contribution of transport infrastructure plans to European integration. The methodology is based on the measurement of the improvement in network efficiency in cross‐border regions of neighbouring countries, via accessibility calculations in a Geographical Information System support. The methodology was tested by applying it to the ambitious road and rail network extensions included in the Spanish Strategic Transport and Infrastructure Plan (PEIT) 2005–2020. The results show significant and important network efficiency improvements of the PEIT outside the Spanish border. For the road mode, while the Spanish average accessibility improvement accounts for 2.6%, average improvements in cross‐border regions of France and Portugal are of 1.8%. And for the rail mode, the corresponding Spanish value is 34.5%, whereas in neighbouring regions it accounts for 20.2%. These results stress the significant importance of this strategic benefit and the consequent need for its inclusion in strategic planning processes. Finally, the paper identifies the potential of the methodology when applied at different administrative levels, such as the local or state levels.

Landscape character assessment with GIS using map-based indicators and photographs in the relationship between landscape and roads

Planning and monitoring of landscapes cannot be reduced to its outstanding features, but must take into account all its characteristics. In this context, the relationship of landscape with roads is of particular importance, because roads alter the territorys environmental resources but also constitute a resource through which the individual comes into contact with the landscape. The aim of this work is to design a methodology to evaluate both the character and the scenic quality of the landscape as viewed from motorways and to provide measures to assess whether the motorway conveys the character of the landscape of which it forms part. The main contribution of this research consists of assessing landscape character through a novel series of map-based indicators and combining the findings with a photo-based method of assessing visual landscape quality. The method has been applied to a case study around a motorway in Madrid Region (Spain). Landscape character values regarding coherence, complexity, naturalness, visual scale, disturbance, historicity, and ephemera are obtained using Geographic Information Systems. Additionally, the landscape quality results derived using photographs allow the incorporation of the users perception at a local scale.

TITIM GIS-tool: A GIS-based decision support system for measuring the territorial impact of transport infrastructures

To achieve sustainability in the area of transport we need to view the decision-making process as a whole and consider all the most important socio-economic and environmental aspects involved. Improvements in transport infrastructures have a positive impact on regional development and significant repercussions on the economy, as well as affecting a large number of ecological processes. This article presents a DSS to assess the territorial effects of new linear transport infrastructures based on the use of GIS. The TITIM - Transport Infrastructure Territorial Impact Measurement - GIS tool allows these effects to be calculated by evaluating the improvement in accessibility, loss of landscape connectivity, and the impact on other local territorial variables such as landscape quality, biodiversity and land-use quality. The TITIM GIS tool assesses these variables automatically, simply by entering the required inputs, and thus avoiding the manual reiteration and execution of these multiple processes. TITIM allows researchers to use their own GIS databases as inputs, in contrast with other tools that use official or predefined maps. The TITIM GIS-tool is tested by application to six HSR projects in the Spanish Strategic Transport and Infrastructure Plan 2005-2020 (PEIT). The tool creates all 65 possible combinations of these projects, which will be the real test scenarios. For each one, the tool calculates the accessibility improvement, the landscape connectivity loss, and the impact on the landscape, biodiversity and land-use quality. The results reveal which of the HSR projects causes the greatest benefit to the transport system, any potential synergies that exist, and help define a priority for implementing the infrastructures in the plan.

A contribution for the evaluation of the territorial impact of transport infrastructures in the early stages of the EIA: application to the Huelva (Spain)–Faro (Portugal) rail link

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure should predict and identify the major impacts of a project development that may cause specific spatial and temporal effects. Early in the EIA, the scoping stage provides all the relevant information on the impacts of the project alternatives. In particular, potential effects on the territorial network such as habitat connectivity loss and accessibility improvements should be taken into account in the various proposed layout alternatives when evaluating transport infrastructure projects. However, several authors have identified deficiencies in practice. The aim of this article is to provide a methodology for the assessment of these territorial impacts using adequate indicators in the early stages of the EIA procedure. The proposed method is based on a comparison of a range of alternative layouts for a railway line linking two population centres, using indicators calculated with geographic information systems. The methodology was applied to a case study – the rail link between Huelva (Spain) and Faro (Portugal) – and the high speed rail (HSR) and conventional rail were evaluated in different layouts. The method was effective in spatially identifying significant impacts on accessibility improvements, which occurred closer to the cross border area. The conventional railway alternatives have similar accessibility values to the HSR. The results also reveal that connectivity loss is not limited to the area around the infrastructure, but extends throughout the territory. The results are at variance with the initiative proposed by Spanish and Portuguese transport decision-makers, and raise the possibility of selecting a conventional railway option. An adequate territorial evaluation methodology enables the new action to be correctly assessed, and supplies the information required to propose the most suitable alternative from a socio-economic and environmental standpoint, regardless of whether this proposal was initially included in the transport policy.

Urban fragmentation map of the Chamberí district in Madrid

High levels of mobility have given rise to land-use patterns that are difficult to navigate for non-motorised transport users. Fragmentation in a transport system can be considered as a lack of connectivity (or permeability), as infrastructures reduce the connectivity between places. Fragmentation has been extensively studied in landscape ecology, and can be understood as a loss of connectivity. Connectivity is defined as the degree of permissiveness offered by the landscape for the displacement of organisms, energy flows and dispersive movements. This article presents a map of urban fragmentation for pedestrians using a habitat fragmentation indicator. It represents difficulty for pedestrian mobility as a function the of the accumulative cost distance over a cost surface under the current motor traffic-oriented street/mobility layout. The map is developed for the Chamberí district in Madrid (Spain). The process consists of first developing the resistance matrix of the territory database. The resistance value is the time taken to travel through the streets. The street axis network is converted into pavements, as this is the part of the street used by pedestrians, including pedestrian crossings and traffic lights. The resistance value –travel time – is calculated, including waiting time. Once the resistance matrix has been created, GIS functions are used to calculate the least accumulative cost distance for each origin to a set of attractive locations/destinations for pedestrians.

Assessing landscape resistance to roe deer dispersal using fuzzy set theory and multicriteria analysis: a case study in Central Spain

The central Iberian Peninsula has one of the highest densities of roe deer populations in Spain. A new motorway is planned to pass through the middle of the distribution of roe deer, thus making it necessary to conduct a connectivity analysis. A map of resistance to roe deer dispersal movements was obtained based on the literature and expert judgment. Three factors were selected: land use (defined by the ability to hide movements, food source, and degree of naturalness), landforms, and influence due to proximity to elements that increase (such as roads and urban areas) or decrease (water resources and proximity to optimal habitat patches) resistance at the local level. Different combinations of factors derived using the analytical hierarchy and fuzzy logic processes were analysed and compared with the real distribution of the species. More realistic resistance (cost) values were obtained for gamma values close to 0.9. This highlights the greater predominance of the fuzzy sum over the fuzzy product in modelling the cost surface. Better results were obtained in scenarios where the predominant factors were either land use and landforms or land use and proximity to human-modified areas. This indicates that roe deer will readily range far from their optimal patches if the land use provides partial cover. These movements appear to be conditioned by steep terrain. Our case study offers a good example of building a cost resistance matrix to help locate areas where the expansion of the species may be curbed or encouraged.

Transport Planning and Global Warming

Transport energy consumption in industrialised countries is based primarily on fossil fuels, and is associated with the main negative impacts of transport: climate change, air pollution, congestion and accidents (Sperling, 2004). The emissions of many pollutants are being moderated due to improvements in engines and fuels, but the consequences for health are a growing concern, and particularly the risks posed by nitrogen oxides and particles, which are closely associated to transport. CO2 emissions (the gas considered mainly responsible for the greenhouse effect) are also increasing, and this phenomenon can be seen most intensely in the transport sector. The European Commission’s 2001 White Paper on transport (and the 2006 revised edition) declared that the sustainability of the transport energy model must include the control of transport demand and an improvement in the efficiency of transport modes. It is this area which offers the greatest potential for establishing an effective strategy of action. This requires a greater commitment to the processes of transport deregulation –in order to make consumers aware of price considerations–, the establishment of mechanisms to ensure that these prices reflect actual costs, and the promotion of energy savings. This approach was underlined in the 2005 Green Paper on energy end-use efficiency and energy services, which suggests that overall consumption in the European Union can be reduced by up to 20% without compromising economic profitability. This was subsequently ratified by the European Council’s March 2007 Action Plan which established this as an objective for the year 2020. The European Parliament and Council has also approved Directive 2006/32/EC concerning end-use energy efficiency, as well as revising a proposal for a directive for the development of clean and energy-efficient road vehicles. However, measures require some time after their implementation in order to take effect, and they must be supported by changes in lifestyle which will effectively influence transport use over the forthcoming decades (Rodenburg et al., 2002). A reduction in transport GHG emissions can be achieved by reducing the need for transport, improving the energy efficiency of the different modes of transport and fuels, and balancing modal distribution (Schipper et al., 1997; Steenhof et al., 2006). The measures that can be applied in the transport sector to promote savings and improvements in energy efficiency are well known in general terms (Rodenburg et al., 2002; Cuddihy et al., 2005). These include everything from correctly setting energy prices, and reflecting these prices in the cost of services, including external costs; economic and tax

Influence of the first and last mile on HSR accessibility levels

Accessibility models not only help to explain spatial and transport developments in developed and developing countries but also are powerful tools to explain the equity and efficiency impacts of urban and transport policies and projects. In this book, leading researchers from around the world show the importance of accessibility in contemporary issues such as rural depopulation, investments in public services and public transport and transport infrastructure investments in Europe.